COLLEGE FOOTBALL; Seminoles Survive Clash of Stingy Defenses

By PETE THAMEL

Published: September 5, 2006

For so many years, the road to the national championship intersected with Florida State's annual game with Miami. The winner of this rivalry game would instantly become a national title contender.

But these two perennial powers combined to lose eight games last year and entered this season out of the top 10 for the first time since 1982. After No. 11 Florida State escaped with a 13-10 victory over No. 12 Miami on Monday night, the reality emerged that neither of these teams could end up in national title contention this season.

Florida State overcame a 10-3 halftime deficit with two fourth-quarter scores, including the game-winning field goal by Gary Cismesia with 8 minutes 1 second remaining. That was no small feat in this series, which has been marked by Florida State special-teams blunders.

But the Seminoles gained just 1 rushing yard on 25 attempts and finished the game with 176 total yards. And in victory, they reminded the 71,481 at the Orange Bowl that the energy and offensive fireworks so long associated with this series had disappeared.

''This wasn't pretty,'' Florida State Coach Bobby Bowden said. ''But I haven't had any pretty losses. This was an ugly win. I like them ugly.''

Things were even uglier on the Miami side, where Hurricanes Coach Larry Coker gutted his staff in the off-season. Much of that was an attempt to recharge an offense that had steadily grown anemic.

But a new coordinator, quarterbacks coach and offensive line coach did not appear to do much help. Miami mustered 2 rushing yards on 26 carries and 132 yards of total offense. In the second half, the Hurricanes were shut out and had only 17 total yards.

Miami's last three drives were a comedy of errors. They included three fumbles, a procedure penalty, a dropped pass on third-and-9 by the freshman Sam Shields, and an interception to end Miami's hopes.

By the end of the game, Coker was begging Hurricanes fans to give this team a chance. This was Coker's second consecutive loss to Florida State to open the season. The Seminoles snapped a six-game Miami winning streak in the series last year.

''I want to make sure our fans don't give up on this football team,'' Coker said. ''This is going to be a good football team. We've got some good players. It's a long season.''

Bowden attributed his team's struggles to a stout Miami defense, which he said could be the best that the Seminoles face all season. But the play-calling issues surrounding Bowden's son Jeff, the team's offensive coordinator, will inevitably became a controversy again this season.

''Obviously we're going to be disappointed,'' running back Lorenzo Booker said. ''There's a lot of things that we could have done different. But Florida State and Miami, it's going to be a war. It's always been a defensive battle.''

Entering the fourth quarter, Florida State had rushed for 3 yards on 16 carries. But two passes highlighted its only touchdown drive. The first was a 27-yard completion from Drew Weatherford to De'Cody Fagg on a third-and-10 that gave the Seminoles momentum late in the third quarter. A 35-yard dump pass to

Booker, with help from a missed tackle by Miami linebacker Glenn Cook, followed to set up their only touchdown.

Miami's only scores came thanks to two foolish Florida State penalties. In a series known for its superfluous penalties and post-whistle shenanigans, Florida State defensive lineman Paul Griffin added another lowlight in the second quarter.

Griffin speared Miami tailback Charlie Jones well after he had been stopped for a 3-yard loss. Instead of a second-and-goal from the Florida State 18-yard line, Miami jumped to the 9-yard line. Two plays later, Jones ran through safety Roger Williams and scored on a 4-yard run to give Miami a 7-3 lead.

Griffin's late and foolish hit on Davis encapsulated a first half riddled with mistakes and sloppy play. Miami took a 10-3 lead into halftime after adding a field goal set up by another Florida State penalty. A blatant late hit by offensive lineman Shannon Boatman pushed the Seminoles back to their own 9-yard line and set up a third-and-15, too big a task for their offense on this night.

After a punt, Miami took over at midfield and then Wright got hot, completing 7 of 9 passes to set up Jon Peattie's 20-yard field goal.

But that was not nearly enough, as Miami and its annual series with Florida State lost even more luster.

Photo: Kyle Wright had more luck passing than running against Florida State, which held Miami to 2 yards on the ground. (Photo by Doug Benc/Getty Images)